


And Then There Was Four

by Wayward_Warlocks



Category: The Umbrella Academy (Comics), The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-23
Updated: 2019-02-23
Packaged: 2019-11-04 13:27:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,730
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17898980
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wayward_Warlocks/pseuds/Wayward_Warlocks
Summary: It's a standard bank heist. Nothing they haven't done a hundred times before.Except for this time, one of the perps has cut the power, and he didn't seem to flip a switch to do it.-Ben is killed during a mission, and Klaus doesn't take it so well.





	And Then There Was Four

It's a standard bank heist. Nothing they haven't done a hundred times before.

Except for this time, one of the perps has cut the power, and he didn't seem to flip a switch to do it. Perhaps even stranger, the perp can't be any older than 17, much like they are.

Klaus feels useless on missions these days. He hasn't been sober in four years, not really, which renders him pretty much as useful as Vanya in these missions. He stands in a corner, usually, and pretends to be conjuring someone. He's pretty sure his siblings know, but The Monocle doesn't come indoors with them, because that's  _far_  too dangerous for someone as  _important_  as him, and his siblings don't rat him out to their sorry excuse for a father. Doesn't stop him from feeling useless, though.

So there he stands, feeling rather sorry for himself and considering getting sober. He's not especially high right now and it's not all that bad, he supposes. Though closing his eyes for even a moment creates a whole mirage of horrors. But it would make Ben happy, if he got sober.

Ben.

Looking around, he hasn't seen Ben in a good few minutes. He hears his voice, though, and supposes that's a good thing. But he's shouting his name, rather urgently.

_I'm useless_. Klaus thinks.  _How the hell am I supposed to help?_ But Ben sounds urgent. Ben sounds in _pain_ , so Klaus charges into the fray, following the sound of his brother's panicked voice.

And there he stands, screaming now, holding his hands over his face and crumbling to the ground. Klaus tries to comfort his brother. In the dim light of the bank, he tries to put a hand on Ben's shoulder, but it falls straight through. Ben looks up, and Klaus sees now. God, he can see Ben's  _bones_. Burned, mangled skin reveals raw muscle and bone beneath, his mask and hair melt into his face, while the skin on his hands bubbles, like some horrific anti-fireworks campaign image.

Klaus lets out a blood-curdling scream, tumbling to the floor next to his brother's ghost, and he can now see the body. Silent, unlike the ghost, it lays lifeless and further solidifies that Ben is dead. Never again will Klaus see his brother alive.

He's still screaming, he thinks. He's not really sure anymore. Time is meaningless. Nothing matters if Ben's not here. And Ben's crying too. God, he must be in immense pain. Klaus doesn't want to think about it; he'd probably throw up. Hell, he might throw up anyway.

The battle passes, at some point. Klaus doesn't know if anyone else has died. He's leaned over Ben's body, clutching it tightly and squeezing his eyes shut, praying to something that this is a horrid dream. That he'll wake up and Ben will be there to comfort him, like he always is.

Shutting his eyes makes him see the ghosts, the ones that scream and cry for some kind of release, but he doesn't care. Anything is better than looking up at Ben.

-

Klaus spends the next four days getting completely, utterly, blackout wasted. His siblings give him a disapproving look, probably at how thin he's getting in such a short few days, but don't say anything of it - they're grieving too, after all. Hargreeves seems to feel the need to punish Klaus for this, calling him things along the lines of a "disappointment" and "disgrace" and isolating him to his room, but that's fine. That's where the drugs are, anyway.

Ben stopped crying sometime yesterday, or maybe before. Klaus isn't sure. He's passing out too frequently to really give a shit what day it is. He's leaning over the toilet when Ben decides to guilt him.

"Klaus, please stop this. You promised me you'd stop, remember?"

"And you promised me we were gonna leave this shitty house and be two regular people, living regular lives. But here we are." He slurs his way through, washing down more pills with a bottle of Jack. "You can fuck off, Ben." He grumbles, and to his surprise, Ben does.

-

The funeral is the next day, and Allison has to more or less dress Klaus in one of Ben's old suits, since Klaus doesn't own one.

"This room stinks," She remarks.

"Thanks," Klaus grumbles.

She sighs, "How much have you taken?"

"You think I keep count," Klaus laughs dryly, no real humour behind it.

"Alright then. _What_ have you taken?"

"I've no idea." He laughs again, leaning back in his bed and hitting his head rather hard against the wall.  _Great_.

"Ben wouldn't want you to-"

"Why don't you go fuck our brother, Allison?" Klaus snaps, immediately feeling regret for his harsh words. "Wait- I, sorry-"

"Shove it up your ass, Klaus," Allison sneers, leaving the room and slamming the door for good measure.

-

Klaus is the one to spread the ashes. He sways uneasily on his feet, avoiding eye contact with Hargreeves at all costs. He pours them on a sad little pile on the ground, and tries his best to ignore the sound of the press just outside the gate, some small distance away. He's supposed to say a few words. Just as he opens his mouth, he spots Ben, leaning against the wall a few feet away.

"Well," He begins, clearing his throat and steadying his legs as best he can. "isn't this some bullshit?"

"Klaus-" Diego interjects, sounding appalled.

"Maybe you all don't notice it, because you're too busy hoping to the high heavens for some sort of affection from this- this  _man_ ," He gestures drunkenly at Hargreeves, still unable to bring himself to look at him. "We were all taken from our  _real_  parents. Forced into tiny uniforms and told we're the only ones who can stop some-  _something_ , childhood be damned, right? Because fuck us, I guess. Kids our age are sitting fuckin' exams or whatever right now! Five is long gone and Ben is  _dead_!" He trips over his own feet and catches himself just before he hits the ground. "I mean, fuck, our legal  _names_  are  _numbers_! And better yet," he laughs bitterly. "Numbers ranked by importance! That's not normal! None of us are normal, except Vanya, I suppose, and somehow she gets the  _least_  attention from daddy dearest here out of all of us. We should be dating kids from school, not our adopted sisters," he looks at Luke, as if he hadn't learned his lesson with Allison. "But then again, I suppose we're not really siblings, right? We're just a team of little orphans who are fucked up in the head, or even better yet, dead. Isn't that right, Ben?"

"Klaus!" Diego says again, the only one Klaus hasn't thoroughly pissed off yet. "Ben's not here."

"Maybe not for you, but he's right there for me, genius."

"You haven't been able to conjure anyone in years, Klaus. Too busy being a junkie, remember?" Vanya pipes up with some malice, tears in her eyes.  _Did I do that?_

"Yeah, that's what it is. Grief is what's pushed me over the line of insanity, after all these years of torture from  _you_ ," He stares daggers into Hargreeves, finally seeing the deep disappointment and anger in his father's eyes. "I won't be here this time tomorrow, don't worry." He grumbles, stepping over Ben's ashes and flipping them all off as he rounds the corner of the house.

-

The following year, the Academy members are turning 18. Diego decides to try and find Klaus to join them on a little party they're having, without Hargreeves' knowing, of course. He tries Shinyview, since he's heard Klaus is often there. The receptionist there tells him he's just missed Klaus - he left three days ago. But he does tell him the name of Klaus' "friend", who might know where he is. This friend, in turn, tells Diego there's an alleyway where Klaus gets shelter and gets high when he's not in Shinyview these days. There, he finds his brother, slumped against the wall, surrounded by needles and empty plastic packets.

"Hey, Klaus, get up." He nudges his shoulder. Then pushes it harder. "C'mon, we're going back to the Academy." He checks for a pulse, and finds none. "Jesus Christ, Klaus..." He mutters, sighing to himself and dropping Klaus' "Goodbye" hand.  _Ironic_ , he thinks.

-

The Academy spend their 18th at yet another brother's funeral. It's a pathetic affair. No reporters this time, and Hargreeves didn't bother his ass to come. So Diego, Luther, Alison and Vanya stand around the pile of ashes.

"Why here?" Allison mumbles to no one in particular. "He hated this house."

"He didn't have a will," Diego stated.

"Why would he? He didn't own anything to give, and I doubt he cared if he lived or died." Luther adds solemnly. "But I don't think he'd want it to be at a cemetery - he hated those."

"You think he did it on purpose?" Vanya whispers lowly, making no attempt to hold back tears, as she had at Ben's, until Klaus had upset her.

"We should've checked in on him. We've only ever had each other. Klaus was alone for  _months_  after Ben died, and we did nothing. And why? Because he upset us when he was grieving his best friend? I mean Christ, did none of us think?" Allison frets.

Luther takes a swig of the beer in his hand. He doesn't usually drink, but being Number One, he feels like the worst leader ever for losing three of his brothers in such a short span of time. He pours the remaining half on the ground, where the wind has blown the majority of the ashes away from.

"I think this was the best place." He says. "He's with Ben."

"This is on us." Diego sighs.

From a distance, Klaus watches on over his siblings. A now healed Ben's got an arm around his shoulders, and he finds comfort in the warmth of his brother's embrace. It's what he'd wanted, after all. Life was no fun. But here, he has Ben, and the dead don't torment him anymore, now that he's one of them. His existence was torture, but perhaps this new existence could be a fresh start of sorts. Eternity's a long time, but it sure as hell beats another minute in the land of the semi-living.

**Author's Note:**

> thanks for reading lol i havent written in ages but ive been waiting for the tv adaptation of this series for bloody FOREVER and i was just so hyped so i hope u liked this Big Sad Story
> 
> Leave a comment if u fancy :)


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